Cleaning up

Under the Radar:Students get a fair amount of stick for partying when they should be studying. A day out on the golf course though led to three young NUI Maynooth students setting up their own business and nabbing this year's Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

"If truth be told, we spent more time out on the golf course than in the lecture halls," concedes Brendan Moore, one of the three men behind VVVisions.

Rather than it being a sign of misspent youth, the days on the golf course provided Moore and his two friends, Andrew Thompson and James Dowling, with the inspiration for a new golfing product.

"We were on the course playing golf when we saw this hideous looking contraption on Andrew's bag. It was this cleaning product and was literally two pieces of astroturf stitched together. When we saw how it worked, we thought it was a great idea. What guys were using and are still using to clean clubs is a bit of long grass, the ends of their trouser leg, tees and small, gimmicky brushes that are buried in the end of their bag."

When they were asked to put together a business plan for a new product or service as part of their finance and venture management course in Maynooth, the three decided to look at developing the golf cleaning product. "We put together a business plan that was absolutely rubbish but what it did do was outline that there is commercial potential for this type of product," says Moore.

So they decided to put in a bit more work to develop the product. While other students sought work experience with the usual line-up of multinationals during third year, Moore, Thompson and Dowling got on to an enterprise platform programme at the Campus Incubation Centre in the Institute of Technology in Carlow.

"The college allowed us to work full-time at the business," says Moore. "We received a training grant of €5,500 for the year and that pays our rent in the incubation centre. That's how we set ourselves up."

VVVisions was established in 2006 and the company's first product, V-Towel, could well become the new standard for on-course golf club cleaning. It comprises a looped towel attached to a cleaning mechanism that efficiently cleans the face, cavity and sole of a club in one easy action.

V-Towel also offers corporate bodies an innovative advertising medium on which to display their brand.

After a thorough 18-month design programme, rigorous product testing and vetting by caddies at the 2006 Ryder Cup, the V-Towel was launched at the European Golf Trade Fair in Munich in October.

"A lot of people find it hard to comprehend the work that is involved in the design phase and that goes into manufacturing, setting up your supply chain out in China, getting your suppliers delivering on time, assessing the quality of the product and ironing out all the little problems," says Moore of the year and half spent getting the product to market.

In the past number of months, he has been to Britain four times, Hong Kong and China twice, Orlando in the United States and the European Golf Trade Fair in Munich in October for the brand's launch.

At the same time, the three entrepreneurs are working on the design of four more golfing products to add to their portfolio.

All the work looks set to pay off. An endorsement has been provisionally agreed with IMG for three-time Ryder Cup player Sergio Garcia and top LPGA player Paula Creamer to represent the brand.

The company generated an order of 40,000 units to be distributed across 22 countries as a result of attending the Munich show and aims to launch the product in the US market at a similar event in Orlando in February.

Winning the Shell award is a fantastic reward for all the hard work and effort, says Moore. It has had other benefits too, with the likes of Enterprise Ireland knocking on their door.

"We are taking on an investor at the moment," says Moore. "We are open to business in that respect; we are shopping around for investors and we have a few people lined up. We are looking to get the best deal for the company."

ut success has had one downside for the three young entrepreneurs. "We actually don't get much time to play golf anymore," says Moore. "The last time I was on a golf course was with an investor. Anytime we get out to the course, it is strictly product testing."

ON THE RECORD

Name:Brendan Moore

Company:VVVisions

Age:22

From:Castledermot, Co Kildare, now lives in Wicklow.

Background:Went to school in Castledermot and in Knockbeg in Co Carlow. While studying for a BSc in finance and venture management at NUI Maynooth, he met Andrew Thompson and James Dowling and they set up VVVisions.

Admires:"Eddie Jordan. He is fantastic for what he achieved in the mammoth scale of the Formula One industry. To be in the business for so long as a sole operator was extraordinary. For any aspiring business person, he's a great role model."

Inspired by:"Our parents supported us, pushed us forward and supported us financially as well when we needed it. They got behind us."

Most likes to:Play golf and relax with friends.

Favourite book:"I recently read The Generation Game by David McWilliams. I wouldn't agree with everything in it, but there are some very interesting observations."

Favourite film:"I really like the Guy Ritchie/Snatch genre of films."